Ah, graduation. I won’t go into all of the small existential crises this event entails (at least not yet), but there is one under-discussed, highly pragmatic influence of graduation on the life of a college student: you have to figure out how to use up all the food you have left. At times this requires getting creative, but often it can be done quite simply. In this case, it just so happened that Miranda and I both had frozen blueberries lying around, so this dessert was an easy choice. In fact, we decided to make it for a Shabbat dinner we were hosting for a bunch of seniors. So, we ended up doing graduation the right way in two ways at once, by using a random food item that would’ve otherwise gone to waste as part of a nice meal with our close friends and fellow soon-to-be graduates.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup + 2 tbsps sugar

Lemon juice

Salt

13 tbsps margarine

1 egg

Vanilla extract

Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Nutmeg

1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 9×13-inch baking tin.

In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups of the flour, 2 tbsps of the sugar, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.

Cut 8 tbsps of the margarine into the mixture until crumbs form.

Mix in the egg and vanilla to form a dough.

Press into the bottom of the pan and bake at 400°F for 12-15 minutes, until just set and pale gold. Leave the oven on and allow the crust to cool.

Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the crust.

Sprinkle the 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg over the blueberries.

In a bowl, cream (most likely using your hands) the brown sugar and the remaining 5 tbsps margarine until combined.

Mix in the remaining 3/4 cup flour to create crumbs.

Sprinkle this topping over the blueberries.

Bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes, until just browned on top.

Why this recipe is good for college students: As mentioned above, this recipe was merely a product of what Miranda and I had lying around. As such, it lends itself very well to customizability and spontaneity: grab your favorite fruit, some other flavorings, and basic baking ingredients and you’ll have a delicious and sharable dessert in no time.

Why this recipe is good for those who keep Kosher: This recipe calls only for butter, which is easily replaced by margarine to make it parve. Any filling or other flavorings you could think of using are most likely parve, so you won’t have to compromise on anything in that department to keep this dessert non-dairy.

What I would do differently if I made this recipe again

If I were to make this recipe again, I would add the lemon juice and nutmeg to all three layers, in order to get an even flavor distribution.